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Article published Jul 3, 2009 Rob Britt takes helm of Blount County Schools
By Matthew Stewart of The Daily Times Staff
When Blount County Director of Schools Rob Britt walks to his office every morning, and passes the photographs of former directors of schools that line the wall, he sometimes gets the feeling that they’re watching over him
"I know many of those guys. I get the feeling they're telling me not to screw up," joked Britt, who assumed full responsibility of the school system Wednesday.
He was appointed April 20 as the system's director of schools. For about a month, Britt worked full time at Carpenters Middle School and learned about the finer details of running a school system. Since the last day of school, he's worked full time at the central office.
Britt has been swamped with a flurry of work, and his notes and paperwork lay in piles across a table in the conference room. Britt said he will remain in the room until he's able to move into the office of previous Director of Schools Alvin Hord.
"At the school level, there are bells to tell you when things are happening such as class changes. Here there's such a plethora of activities, events and tasks. I'm either working to a point of completion or just stopping," he said. "There are no bells here. I look up and it's 5:30 p.m. I don't know where the day's gone."Welcomed on first day
On Britt's first official day as school director, he started work at his usual 7:30 a.m. Britt brought in bagels and pastries that he and his wife, Liz, had picked up from a local business Tuesday night.
He was surprised, however, to find the other central office employees had already prepared a meal of homemade biscuits, gravy, jelly and breakfast casseroles. "It was a joyful way to start off the day. I felt welcomed to the Blount County Central Office family," Britt said.
During the day, he handled primarily personnel issues and spent the bulk of his day interviewing the two finalists for Heritage High School's principal position: Earl McMahan and Chip Fuller. Both McMahan and Fuller are currently Heritage High assistant principals.
Britt said he wanted to spend a little extra time with each candidate to learn more about them and gain more of an insight into how they will run Heritage High School.
Britt is currently working to hire new principals at Eagleton Middle School and Rockford Elementary School. Richard "Shug" Hutson, who had served as Eagleton Middle School's principal since 2002, announced his retirement June 11. John Webb, who served last year as Rockford Elementary School's principal, has been selected as Carpenters Middle School's assistant principal.
Britt also met with supervisors throughout the day. Dr. Brian Bell, facilities and technology supervisor, briefed him on the school system's technology, maintenance and facilities. Britt and Alisa Teffeteller, personnel director, reviewed the final list of job postings. Scott Kirkham, special education supervisor, asked for his input on whether officials should start using a new Crisis Prevention Institute program.Making family time
Despite his new responsibilities and work load, Britt said he's making time for his family every night. Britt's wife, Liz, is a teacher at the Webb School of Knoxville. The couple has three children: Robbie, 16; Rachel, 14; and Reece, 7.
"I eat dinner with them and talk with my kids. I try to spend time with them and see what's going on in their lives," Britt said. He also acted Tuesday as a starter for his daughter's swim meet at Green Meadow Country Club.
After spending several hours with his family, Britt said he then moves back into his role as Blount County's director of schools. He follows up with e-mails, reads documents and otherwise prepares for the next day of work, Britt said.
Britt has also been keeping a promise that he made to the school board members who appointed him. He said he wakes up every morning thinking to himself: "How can I move our system forward to meet its mission, and how I can I have a positive impact on our students' lives?"
Britt, in fact, woke up early Wednesday morning with thoughts about Heritage High School racing through his mind, he said. "Then while I was driving to work, I was thinking about it again. I think it came into my mind, because I'm trying to make a critical decision for Heritage High School."Moving forward
After directing much of his attention for 1¬˝ months to making up a $3.6 million shortfall for fiscal 2009-10, Britt said he feels relieved to have a budget in place.
"We have a balanced budget, and now we can look forward to things such as strategic planning, vision articulation and filling postings," Britt said. "There's a lot of complexities in educating today's youth. However, you can boil it down to three areas -- teaching, learning and building relationships. We have to be superior in these areas if we're going to reach students. I'm building a list of priorities that I want to see accomplished. This is why you strive for this position."
Britt is looking forward to addressing the system's new hires during this month's new teacher academy and his first principal's meeting as director of schools, he said. "Everything we do should support teaching, learning and building relationships. We need to focus on all three. It's about maximizing the academic potential of every child, and moving them up the ladder as fast as we can. I want to articulate that them.
"I'm looking forward to starting the school year, and getting to see the teachers and students back in the classroom. It's going to be great," Britt said.